Washington Redskins quarterback Robert Griffin III has successful surgery for complete reconstruction of his right knee Wednesday morning, according to Dr. James Andrews.

Andrews, who performed the surgery on RG3, says it is "everybody's hope and belief" that Griffin will be ready for the 2013 season.

Griffin "had a direct repair" of the lateral collateral ligament and "a re-do of his previous ACL reconstruction," Andrews said, adding that he expects a full recovery because of Griffin's "high motivation."

Griffin tore the ACL in the same knee in 2009 at Baylor. The recovery time for RG3 is expected to be six to eight months.

According to the report, he should be able to participate "at some level" in training camp and then be available to start the regular season.

The rehabilitation plan will focus on Griffin's quadriceps strength that will then help to protect and stabilize the knee, sources told ESPN.com. The reconstruction of the LCL is considered a complication, but Andrews informed the team that it should rehab well during the same six-to-eight-month time frame as the ACL injury.

It had been reported Tuesday that Griffin would need surgery on a torn LCL and that doctors would assess and determine during the surgery if any damage has been done to the ACL. Griffin spent Tuesday in Florida with Andrews for more examinations, essentially a second opinion.

Griffin was accompanied by several people, including Redskins owner Daniel Snyder, according to CBSSports.com's Jason La Canfora.

On Monday, Griffin was reported to have partial tears of his ACL and LCL, as revealed by an MRI to his right knee, according to The Washington Post. The report, citing "several people with knowledge of the test results," indicated that the tests were not conclusive and could be showing the aftermath of an old injury.

"There is a concern," Redskins coach Mike Shanahan said on Monday of Griffin's planned visit to see Andrews. "That's why he's going to see him."

Shanahan was grilled on Monday about his handling of Griffin's injury. Already playing with a heavy black brace in his third game since spraining a lateral collateral ligament, Griffin injured the knee again when he fell awkwardly while throwing a pass in the first quarter of Sunday's 24-14 playoff loss to the Seattle Seahawks.

Griffin stayed in the game, but he was far from his usual self, clearly favoring the knee and unable to run with the world-class speed that helped define his play early in the season.

Then, in the fourth quarter with the Redskins trailing by seven, the knee buckled the wrong way when Griffin tried to field a bad shotgun snap. The Seahawks recovered the fumble deep in Washington territory, setting up a short field goal that helped put the game out of reach. Griffin was done for the evening.

Shanahan said he thought he made the "right decisions" to keep Griffin in the game and that it would be "crazy" to think he would purposely sacrifice Griffin's career to win a game. He said he did not talk to team doctors initially after Griffin was hurt in the first quarter, instead relying on Griffin's word.

"I went up to Robert. I said, 'You OK?'" Shanahan said. "And he said, 'I'm fine.'"

Griffin was also feeling the criticism for not taking himself out. He did not appear in the locker room during the two hours it was open to reporters Monday morning and instead made his public statements via Twitter.

"Many may question, criticize & think they have all the right answers. But few have been in the line of fire in battle. ... I thank God for perspective and because of that I appreciate the support from everyone. I also appreciate the criticism. ... When adversity strikes you respond in one of two ways....You step aside and give in..Or you step up and fight," Griffin tweeted.

Teammates defended Griffin's desire to play hurt, saying it's part of an athlete's competitive nature.

"It's a slippery slope, I guess you can say, because you want to help the team," said receiver Pierre Garcon, who faced a similar dilemma this season while dealing with a painful toe injury. "But you want to help yourself in the long run and your career.

"You want to look out for all sides, but it's hard to really know exactly if you're doing the right thing because if you sit out and the team losses, it's like 'I could probably have helped.' If you go out there and don't help the team, it's like, 'I probably should've sat out.' You've just got to make a decision and live with it."

Shanahan's take on Griffin was also muddled by details that have emerged from the game in which the quarterback originally hurt the knee last month against the Baltimore Ravens.

The coach said at the time he was told by Andrews on the Redskins sideline that Griffin was cleared to return to the game, but Andrews told USA Today over the weekend that he didn't get a chance to examine the knee during the one play Griffin sat out after the initial injury.

Shanahan explained the apparent discrepancy.

"I don't sit down with him and say, 'Hey, did you give him a proper evaluation?' " Shanahan said. "I ask him, 'Is it OK if he goes back in the game?' He says yes or no. He said yes."

Either way, the various versions of what happened cast more intrigue on the protocol NFL teams use to determine whether someone is fit to keep playing. Redskins left guard Kory Lichtensteiger had to leave Sunday's game in the first quarter because he could no longer play on a sprained left ankle that kept him out of practice all week.

"I went out there," Lichtensteiger said. "But, in hindsight, I probably shouldn't have done it."

Griffin's injury and the playoff loss put a damper on the end of one of the best Redskins seasons in two decades. Washington rallied from a 3-6 start to win the NFC East after four straight last-place finishes. Assuming Griffin's knee will again be fully healthy, the future looks brighter than at any time since the Super Bowl era under coach Joe Gibbs in the 1980s and early 1990s.